The cost of vehicles such as automobiles, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles has continued to increase, thereby increasing the desire of owners of these vehicles to maintain them in good condition over a long useful life. Many motor vehicles are used on primitive roads and in cross country use where the exterior paint is exposed to scratching and abrasion from rocks, brush, tall grasses, tree branches and other potentially injurious objects. Since the cost of repairing and repainting vehicles with scratched and abraded paint is high, most owners do not undertake this work and their vehicles show resulting rust and significant depreciation in value.
Protective coverings for vehicles are not entirely new as indicated by U.S. Pat. No. 1,584,518 to Drake for an auto cover. The auto cover shown by Drake consisted of two parts. One part covered the hood of the vehicle and portions of the front fenders and running boards. The second part of the Drake auto cover covered the roof, back portions of the cab, and portions of the rear fenders. The Drake cover was secured in position by a plurality of snaps or other fasteners which were mounted along the peripheral edges and in some cases at intermediate points.
Despite the apparent benefits of the Drake auto cover, it is apparent that it did not attempt to protect important parts of the vehicle which are commonly subject to damage. The Drake protective cover did not protect the front of vehicles, thereby allowing rock chips and damage by brush and tree limbs to easily occur to front surfaces of the vehicle. The Drake protective cover also did not attempt to protect major portions of the vehicle sides, apparently because of the difficulties associated with having easy ingress and egress from the vehicle. The Drake auto cover further did not protect frontal portions of the rear fenders which would be highly susceptible to damage from brush and rocks particularly in off-road and primitive road use.
The prior art also includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,999 to Miller for a vehicle protector. The vehicle protector disclosed in the Miller patent comprised three sets of flexible panels. The three sets of panels were mounted along the sides of the vehicle at the front fender, doors, and rear side panels. The Miller invention did not provide protection for the vehicle front including the grill and hood areas. Miller also did not have continuous protection for the sides of the vehicle since adjacent panels do not overlap, thereby providing access for rocks, brush and other objects. The Miller invention used elastic bands, snaps and mechanical hook fasteners to retain the panels on the vehicle.